Alison Eivors qualified as a clinical psychologist in 1999. During her training she developed an interest in eating disorders and completed her doctorate in this area. She conducted a qualitative study that investigated reasons for dropout from services for anorexia nervosa. This gave her the opportunity to interview women about the meaning of their eating difficulties and gave her an invaluable insight into the very functional role anorexia can play in people's lives and the enormous battle they face to overcome the disorder. Alison currently works as Principal Clinical Psychologist at a